He noted that the suspect gave the residents contracts for delivering supplies before vanishing without paying them.

The President further promised that should he fail to nab the suspect, he would reach out to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for help in tracking down the suspect and bringing him to book.

"Jayne Kihara told me that there was a person who came here and gave you contracts and you invested your money and then he vanished," he stated.

"What ethnicity is he? He is Turkish? I will look for him. I must find him and if I do not, I will look for Turkish President to work with him on that.

"I will look for him and I will tell him that mambo yake ni matatu," President Ruto promised the jubilant crowd.

Ruto was responding to Kihara who, at the same event, had appealed to him to go after the tycoon and ensure that dues owed to the workers are settled in full.

It is, however, unclear how many individuals were affected or how much money was lost in the scandal.

"Your Excellency, there is an investor who came, he was from Turkey, gave people contracts, gave people work and they supplied but he never paid them and he is gone.

"He (the tycoon), has left our people poorer than they were," Kihara told the Head of State.

In the fourth quarter of last year, President William Ruto had warned tycoons of dire consequences for abusing power and engaging in corrupt dealings.

In October 2023, he cautioned a mining businessman who owes Ksh30 million to residents of Taita Taveta County.

Ruto revealed that the businessman had not paid royalties to the residents for over four years.

The businessman only paid Ksh10 million, with a significant amount still unpaid. He, therefore, urged the tycoon's friends, associates and acquaintances to encourage him to clear the debt.